How to Identify Your Food Triggers Before the Holiday Season (So Christmas Dinner Doesn't Derail Your Recovery)
Dreading Christmas dinner because you don't know which foods will trigger your symptoms? Learn how food sensitivity testing reveals your specific triggers—so you can enjoy the holidays without spending January recovering.
Last week, I sat down with a client who was dreading Christmas.
Not because of family drama or holiday stress—though let's be honest, those are real. She was dreading the food.
"I know I'm going to eat something that sets me off," she told me. "I'll feel terrible for days, but I won't even know what did it. Then I'll spend January trying to recover from the holidays instead of enjoying them."
If you've been there, you know exactly what she's talking about.
The bloating that shows up two days after the meal. The joint pain that creeps in seemingly out of nowhere. The brain fog that makes you wonder if you're getting sick. The fatigue that lingers for a week.
And the worst part? You have no idea which food caused it.
Was it the gluten in the stuffing? The dairy in the mashed potatoes? The sugar in the desserts? Or something you thought was totally "safe"—like the turkey, the green beans, or the sweet potato casserole?
This is the frustrating reality of food sensitivities. Unlike food allergies (which cause immediate, obvious reactions), food sensitivities trigger delayed immune responses that can take 48-72 hours to show up.
Which means by the time you're feeling awful, you've eaten 6-10 different foods since the trigger. Good luck figuring out which one did it.
But here's what most people don't realize: you don't have to guess.
There's a way to know—with certainty—which foods your immune system is reacting to. And once you have that information, navigating holiday meals becomes exponentially easier.
Let me show you how.
Why Food Sensitivities Keep You Stuck (Even When You're "Eating Healthy")
Food sensitivities aren't the same as food allergies.
Food allergies involve IgE antibodies and create immediate, dramatic reactions—think hives, swelling, anaphylaxis. You eat peanuts, and within minutes, you know something's wrong.
Food sensitivities involve IgG and IgA antibodies and create delayed, subtle, cumulative reactions. You eat eggs on Monday, and by Wednesday, you're dealing with joint pain, brain fog, or digestive issues. But you have no idea the eggs were the problem because you've eaten 20 other foods since then.
This is why elimination diets—while helpful—often fail. You remove gluten and dairy, feel a little better, but still have symptoms. So you start removing more foods. Pretty soon, you're living on chicken, rice, and zucchini, terrified to eat anything else.
How Food Sensitivities Drive Autoimmune Inflammation
When you eat a food your immune system has developed antibodies against, here's what happens:
The food particles cross your intestinal barrier (especially if you have increased intestinal permeability—"leaky gut")
Your immune system recognizes them as threats and produces IgG or IgA antibodies to attack them
Immune complexes form (antibodies bound to food proteins), triggering inflammatory cascades throughout your body
Inflammation shows up wherever you're vulnerable—joints, thyroid, brain, gut, skin
Repeated exposure creates chronic inflammation, which perpetuates autoimmune activity
Here's the kicker: you might eat a trigger food on Monday and not feel the consequences until Wednesday or Thursday. Your immune system is responding, inflammation is building, but the symptoms lag behind by days.
Over time, these repeated immune responses lead to:
Chronic intestinal inflammation
Increased intestinal permeability (making the problem worse)
Disrupted gut bacterial balance
Upregulation of inflammatory pathways throughout your body
This is why someone can eat "clean" and still struggle. They're unknowingly eating foods that trigger their specific immune system—foods that might be perfectly healthy for someone else.
The Difference Between IgG and IgA Food Sensitivities (And Why You Need to Test Both)
The Vibrant Food Sensitivity test measures both IgG and IgA antibodies to 96 different food proteins—giving us a clear picture of which foods your immune system is reacting to.
Why Both IgG and IgA Matter:
IgA antibodies:
Primarily produced in the gut's mucosal lining
Half-life of about 6 days
Indicates recent or ongoing exposure
Often shows up in response to foods you eat frequently
First line of defense in your intestinal barrier
IgG antibodies:
Systemic immune response (throughout your body, not just your gut)
Much longer half-life (21-23 days)
Indicates long-term sensitivity or repeated exposure
Associated with delayed symptoms like brain fog, joint pain, fatigue, and digestive issues
When we see elevated IgA and IgG to the same food, that's a major red flag. It means:
You're eating this food regularly
Your gut is mounting a local immune response (IgA)
Your entire immune system is responding systemically (IgG)
This food is likely a significant driver of your inflammation
Common Autoimmune Trigger Foods:
While everyone's sensitivities are unique, autoimmune patients frequently react to:
Gluten/wheat (by far the most common)
Dairy (especially casein and whey)
Eggs (whites more than yolks)
Soy
Corn
Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant)
Certain grains (even gluten-free ones)
Nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts)
But here's what surprises people: you might react strongly to foods you thought were "safe."
I've worked with clients who reacted to:
Chicken (they'd been eating it twice a day)
Spinach (a "superfood" they forced themselves to eat)
Bananas (their go-to snack)
Almonds (they'd switched to almond milk and almond flour)
Coffee (this one always hurts)
The pattern? Foods you eat most frequently are often the ones you react to most strongly. Your immune system has had repeated exposure, and over time, it's mounted a response.
This is why testing is so valuable. It removes the guesswork and gives you a clear roadmap of what's actually driving your inflammation.
Why This Matters Right Now (Before Christmas Dinner)
Here's the reality: the holidays are filled with inflammatory trigger foods.
Traditional Christmas dinner typically includes:
Gluten (stuffing, bread rolls, gravy thickened with flour, desserts)
Dairy (butter, cream, cheese, milk in mashed potatoes and casseroles)
Eggs (in baked goods and casseroles)
Corn (in cornbread, corn syrup in desserts)
Nightshades (mashed potatoes, tomato-based dishes)
Sugar (everywhere)
Inflammatory seed oils (used in cooking and baked goods)
If you have food sensitivities—and most people with autoimmune conditions do—this meal is a perfect storm of immune triggers.
But you don't have to suffer through it.
If you know which foods are your specific triggers, you can:
✅ Make strategic swaps (use coconut cream instead of dairy, cassava flour instead of wheat, olive oil instead of seed oils)
✅ Bring your own versions of traditional dishes that won't trigger inflammation
✅ Eat confidently, knowing you're not going to spend the week after Christmas feeling terrible
✅ Enjoy the holidays instead of dreading them
The key is having data—real information about what your immune system is reacting to.
How Food Sensitivity Testing Works in Practice
In the Vibrant Foundations Immersion program, food sensitivity testing happens in Month 1.
Here's what the process looks like:
Step 1: Comprehensive Testing
Vibrant Food Sensitivity Panel (IgG and IgA antibodies to 96 foods)
Gut Zoomer (to assess gut health, bacterial balance, and inflammation markers)
Additional testing as needed
Step 2: Results Review
We go through your results together in detail
Identify which foods show elevated IgG, IgA, or both
Discuss which sensitivities are likely causing symptoms
Create a personalized elimination protocol
Step 3: Strategic Elimination
Remove foods with moderate to high reactions (typically for 3-6 months)
Focus on reducing overall immune burden
Support gut restoration while foods are eliminated
Step 4: Gut Recovery Work
Address intestinal permeability ("leaky gut")
Restore beneficial bacterial diversity
Support digestive function (stomach acid, enzymes, bile flow)
Calm intestinal inflammation
Step 5: Reintroduction (Months 5-6)
Systematically test foods one at a time
Monitor for delayed reactions (72-hour window)
Determine what you can tolerate long-term
Build a sustainable, personalized diet
The goal isn't to restrict foods forever. The goal is to:
Identify what's driving inflammation right now
Remove those triggers while you restore gut health
Recover intestinal barrier function
Reintroduce foods strategically to see what you can tolerate
Most clients discover they can reintroduce many foods after 6 months of gut restoration work—but some foods (often gluten and dairy) remain problematic long-term for people with autoimmune conditions.
Real Life Example: Sarah's Holiday Transformation
Sarah came to me in October, dreading the upcoming holidays.
She'd been dealing with Hashimoto's for three years. She'd gone gluten-free and dairy-free on her own, which helped—but she was still having joint pain, afternoon energy crashes, and digestive bloating that seemed random.
We ran her Food Sensitivity panel.
Her results showed elevated IgG reactions to:
Eggs (high—she'd been eating them daily)
Almonds (high—she'd switched to almond milk and almond flour)
Chicken (moderate—her go-to protein)
Rice (moderate—her gluten-free staple)
Black pepper (moderate—she used it in everything)
Her IgA reactions included:
Coffee (high—two cups every morning)
Tomatoes (moderate)
Corn (moderate)
She was shocked. "I thought eggs were supposed to be healthy! I've been forcing myself to eat them because everyone says they're good for thyroid health."
We eliminated her reactive foods for four months while we worked on restoring her gut health—improving bacterial diversity, supporting her intestinal barrier, addressing inflammation.
By the time the holidays rolled around, she'd made several autoimmune-friendly versions of traditional dishes:
Mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes (nightshade-free)
Cassava flour stuffing instead of wheat (gluten-free, grain-free)
Coconut cream gravy instead of dairy-based (no butter or milk)
Turkey with herb rub (no black pepper)
Sweet potato casserole with coconut sugar (no corn syrup)
She brought her versions to Christmas dinner, ate confidently, and for the first time in years, didn't spend the following week recovering.
"I actually enjoyed Christmas this year," she told me in January. "I wasn't anxious about the food. I wasn't wondering what was going to make me feel terrible. I knew exactly what I could eat, and I felt great the whole time."
That's the power of knowing your triggers.
What If You Can't Get Tested Before Christmas?
Look, I get it. Testing takes time. Results take 2-3 weeks. If Christmas is in 10 days, you're not going to have food sensitivity results in time.
But you can still protect yourself.
Here's what I recommend if you're going into the holidays without testing:
Strategy #1: Stick to What You Know Is Safe
If you've already eliminated certain foods and feel better without them (gluten, dairy, etc.), don't reintroduce them during the holidays "just this once." The immune response isn't worth it.
Strategy #2: Focus on Whole, Unprocessed Foods
The more processed a food is, the more likely it contains hidden triggers:
Gluten (hidden in sauces, gravies, seasonings)
Dairy (butter, cream, milk powder)
Corn (cornstarch, corn syrup, maltodextrin)
Soy (soybean oil, soy lecithin)
Inflammatory seed oils (canola, vegetable, soybean)
Stick to simple, recognizable foods: roasted vegetables, plain turkey or ham, fresh salads with olive oil and vinegar.
Strategy #3: Bring Your Own Dishes
Make autoimmune-friendly versions of your favorite holiday foods and bring them to share. That way, you know you'll have safe options—and you might inspire someone else at the table.
Strategy #4: Plan to Test in January
Don't let the holidays derail your recovery long-term. Plan to get comprehensive food sensitivity testing in early January so you have answers for the rest of the year.
The Functional Health Breakthrough Call is a great place to start—we'll talk about your symptoms, health history, and which tests would be most valuable for you.
The Terrain-Based Approach to Food Sensitivities
Food sensitivities don't exist in isolation. They're a sign that something's out of balance in your terrain—your internal environment.
When we work together in the Vibrant Foundations Immersion program, we don't just identify trigger foods and remove them. We ask: Why did your immune system start reacting to these foods in the first place?
Usually, it's because of:
1. Increased intestinal permeability ("leaky gut")
Food particles are crossing your intestinal barrier when they shouldn't
Your immune system encounters them in your bloodstream and mounts a response
This is often driven by gut infections, chronic stress, NSAIDs, or poor gut bacterial balance
2. Gut dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance)
Overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria or yeast
Depletion of beneficial bacteria that regulate immune function
Disrupted production of short-chain fatty acids (which protect your gut lining)
3. Chronic inflammation
Upregulated immune pathways
Inflammatory cytokines circulating throughout your body
Nervous system dysregulation (stress keeps you in "fight or flight")
4. Poor digestive function
Low stomach acid (can't break down proteins properly)
Insufficient digestive enzymes
Sluggish bile flow (can't digest fats effectively)
When we address these root causes—not just the food sensitivities themselves—your gut begins to restore. Your intestinal barrier strengthens. Your immune system calms down.
And over time, many people find they can tolerate foods they previously reacted to.
But you have to start by identifying the triggers and removing them while you restore the terrain.
That's the VFI approach. Test, remove obstacles, restore the foundation, reintroduce strategically.
Where to Start
If you're dealing with autoimmune symptoms and suspect food sensitivities are part of the picture, here's what I recommend:
1. Get tested. The Vibrant Food Sensitivity Panel gives us the roadmap we need. Without this information, you're guessing—and most people guess wrong. Book your FREE Functional Health Breakthrough Call to learn more about testing options.
2. Address gut health alongside food elimination. Removing trigger foods helps, but if you don't restore your gut lining and bacterial balance, the sensitivities will persist. This is where the Vibrant Foundations Immersion program comes in—we work on both simultaneously.
3. Give it time. Gut restoration takes months, not weeks. Most people need 3-6 months of focused work before they see major shifts. But the payoff—reduced inflammation, fewer symptoms, more food freedom—is absolutely worth it.
4. Plan ahead for the holidays. If you can't get tested before Christmas, use the strategies above to protect yourself. Then commit to getting answers in January so next year's holidays are easier.
Your Recovery Can Start Here
I know how exhausting it is to wonder which foods are sabotaging your recovery.
I know how isolating it feels to watch everyone else enjoy holiday meals while you're stuck with plain chicken and steamed vegetables, hoping you don't accidentally trigger a flare.
I know how frustrating it is to do "all the right things"—eat clean, take supplements, rest—and still feel terrible.
But you don't have to keep guessing.
Food sensitivity testing gives you clarity. The Vibrant Foundations Immersion program gives you a roadmap. And with both, you can finally stop reacting to every meal and start enjoying food again.
Christmas dinner doesn't have to derail your recovery. In fact, it can be a celebration—one where you eat confidently, feel great, and actually enjoy the holiday.
Ready to stop guessing and start knowing?
Order your Food Sensitivity Test here
📞 Book your FREE Functional Health Breakthrough Call
📖 Learn more about the Vibrant Foundations Immersion program
📧 Questions? Email us at info@sagebrushwellness.com
P.S. Next week, I'm sharing my favorite autoimmune-friendly Christmas recipes—including everything from appetizers to desserts. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss it. You can have a delicious holiday meal and feel amazing afterward. I promise.
**Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Food sensitivity testing should be interpreted by a qualified healthcare practitioner in the context of your overall health. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes.
